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Abstract
Neonatal sepsis is one of the major health problems throughout the
world.
- Every year an estimated 30 million acquire infection, 1 – 2 millions of
these died.
- A variety of factors contributed to this serious disease including
maternal risk factors as premature rupture of membrane, beside neonatal
risk factors as prematurity and invasive procedures.
- Unfortunately there is no single diagnostic curve which can reliably
diagnose sepsis in the neonate except for blood culture, there for many
diagnostic tests are utilized to diagnose or confirm sepsis.
- PCT is a 14 – kDa protein encoded by the calc – 1 gene along with
calcitonin and katacalcin, studies of its behavior in patients with sepsis
have led to the proposal that it may be a useful marker of systemic
bacterial infection with greater sensitivity than acute phase protein such
as C-reactive protein.
- In this work we tried to evaluate PCT serum level as a marker of
neonatal sepsis. This study conducted on 60 neonates, 20 diagnosed as
having proven sepsis by +ve clinical presentation, +ve haematological
sepsis score and +ve blood culture, their age ranged between 3 – 14 days
postnatally and their weight ranged between 2.5 – 3.2 kg. 20 diagnosed as
having probably sepsis by +ve clinical presentation, +ve haematological
sepsis score but with negative blood culture, their age ranged between
3 – 12 days postnatally and their weight range between 2.4 – 3.4 k.g .
- The control group comprised 20 healthy neonates taken randomly from
the out patient clinic of El-Khalifa hospital coming for first postnatal
check up or for vaccination.
- Both patients and control groups were subjected to full history taking,
clinical examination and laboratory investigations including CBC with
differential, CRP and measurement of PCT, patients also subjected to
blood culture.